Assertive, then bold

Meteors claim SICA crown, want more

Thornton Fractional North 56, Thornwood 49

February 24, 2007|By Bob Sakamoto, Tribune staff reporter.

Lawrence Redmond stood there in his SICA Conference Champion T-shirt and uttered one of the boldest statements of the season Friday in Crete.

Redmond had just scored 14 points in helping No. 2 Thornton Fractional North to a 56-49 victory over No. 19 Thornwood for the conference tournament title at Crete-Monee. He was asked if this second win over the Thunderbirds this season had sent a message.

"Yeah, a blowout message," he said. "Next time we play them, it's going to be a blowout."

Twice, reporters asked Redmond if that's what he really wanted to say.

"We beat them with (6-foot-6-inch) Marcus Deloney on the bench (mild ankle injury), and he'll be back if we play them in the (Thornton) sectional," Redmond said. "Yeah, this was a blowout message."

Considering both teams were holding back in anticipation of the more consequential likely rematch in two weeks, Redmond was cautioned his words could serve to motivate the T-Birds. Thornwood (20-6) caught fire last year in the postseason and finished fourth in Class AA.

"Yeah, we did send a message," Watt said. "It's going to be tough to beat us in the playoffs. We didn't really focus on winning this tournament."

In hopes of providing his players the conditioning and running they missed while playing in this event, Meteors coach Tim Bankston played his five starters the entire game. "I was pretty tired, and during timeouts I let coach know," Watt said. "He told me to just toughen up and keep on playing."

Thornwood trailed the entire second half, coming within 46-41 in the middle of the fourth quarter after a Reggie Hamilton three-pointer. But a 10-5 spurt triggered by Watt and Cox closed it out. DeAndre Taylor led the T-Birds with 14 points.

If the seeding holds true to form, the Thornton sectional will pit T.F. North against Thornwood and No. 7 Washington against No. 8 Thornton.